Wake Forest Battles No. 9 Duke

DURHAM, N.C. - The Wake Forest men's basketball team (16-8, 8-5) stepped into the second consecutive Big Four matchup on Monday evening (Feb. 12), visiting nationally-ranked No. 9 Duke (19-5, 10-3) in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Demon Deacons and Blue Devils went toe-to-toe throughout the night before Duke finished on a victorious 77-69 note.

Hunter Sallis led the scoring attack for his Deacs, totaling a team-high 22 points on 50 percent shooting from the floor. He has now recorded 20 or more points in six appearances throughout Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play, along with 12 such performances for the entire winter. Sallis added five rebounds and four assists to his line.

Andrew Carr chipped in 12 points, going 6-of-9 in his field goal attempts, and grabbed five rebounds.

Freshman reserve Parker Friedrichsen scored all 10 of his points in the second half, including two makes from distance.

Efton Reid III contributed eight points, four rebounds and three assists in 15 minutes, while Cameron Hildreth added six points, six boards and three steals. Kevin Miller led Wake Forest with seven boards.

The Deacons posted a 53.3 field-goal shooting percentage during the final 20 minutes.

Wake Forest stays on the road this upcoming weekend, traveling to Virginia for a Saturday tilt (Feb. 17). Tip off is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET and the game will air on ESPN2. The two programs met inside LJVM Coliseum about a month ago (Jan. 13) when Wake Forest captured a 66-47 victory.

How It Happened

Efton Reid III found Andrew Carr under the basket for a slam for the Deacs' first points of the game to get down one, 3-2, two minutes in.
Carr, with a spin move to the basket, kept Wake within one, 5-4.
Kevin Miller found Hunter Sallis in the left corner and he was able to drive it for the slam, as the score was 7-6 Duke.
Out of the timeout, Sallis found the lane again for a layup to keep the Deacs within two, 10-8.
After a short scoring drought, Sallis took it to the rim off a steal from Reid.
- The Deacs defense also held the Blue Devils scoreless for nearly four minutes.
Damari Monsanto hit his first three of the game off a snatch back to make it 13-16 on the next play.
- Another Monsanto three, this one being a pull-up from the same spot, tied it at 16 all with 7:25 to go in the first half.
A corner three from Sallis off a skip pass from Miller put Wake back within one, 20-19.
Out of the timeout, Sallis hit a three from the top of the key to end a scoring drought and get Wake back within four.
Sallis again answered for Wake with a turnaround jumper in the lane to get the team back within two, 26-24, with 1:42 to go in the half.
Miller converted an and-one to tie it at 27 with 7.1 seconds left in the half.
Wake Forest went into halftime down two, 29-27.
- Sallis led all players with 14 points on 50 percent shooting from the field during the first 20 minutes.
Reid hit two free throws to tie it at 29 less than 20 seconds into the second half.
Miller found Carr at the rim for an alley oop and Wake stayed within two, 33-31.
- On the next possession, Cameron Hildreth hit two free throws to tie it at 33.
Out of the timeout, Sallis found Carr under the basket to end a Duke run.
An up-and-under from Sallis put Wake back within five, 42-37.
- Another basket from Sallis on the next possession had Wake within six.
Hildreth battled his way into the paint for a layup on the next play.
Friedrichsen turned defense into offense with a steal and the layup, resulting in Wake being back within three, 46-43.
Matthew Marsh had the put-back off a Sallis layup to keep Wake within five with 11 minutes to play.
- Sallis took it to the rim on the next play to make it 47-53.
Friedrichsen hit a three from the top of the key and Wake stayed within five, 55-50, with 8:30 to play.
Reid backed down into the paint for a bucket and to put Wake within three.
Reid hit a backdown layup to end a Duke run and Wake was within seven with 6:50 to go.
Friedrichsen hit a right-wing three to get the Deacs within six.
Reid hit the putback off a Hildreth layup to keep Wake within six.
On the next play Carr hit a hookshot and Wake was within seven.
- Another hook shot, this one from Reid, kept Wake within seven with 3:34 left to play.
Hildreth hit two free throws out of the timeout to get the Deacs within five.
Carr hit a fadeaway jumper to keep Wake within five, 70-65, with 2:09 to go.
- Friedrichsen hit two free throws on the next possession to keep Wake within five.
Wake Forest fell to Duke, 77-69.

Stats of the Game

Hunter Sallis continued his streak of 24 consecutive games to open his Wake Forest career with double-digit scoring, as the junior added 22 points, five rebounds, four assists and one block.
- Over the last two games, the junior guard is averaging 27.5 points per game.
- He entered the contest third in the ACC in scoring and is now averaging a team-high 18.7 points per game.
The Demon Deacons posted 40 points in the paint, the most allowed by the Blue Devils in a single game this campaign.
- It is also tied for the fourth-most paint points by the Demon Deacons this season and tied for the second-most in ACC play.
The Demon Deacons forced 13 turnovers on Monday night, tied for the fourth-most by the Blue Devils this season and tied for the most inside Cameron Indoor.
- It marked the 18th time this season in which the Deacs forced at least 10 turnovers.

Coach's Comments

"I liked where we were at the end of the first half. Even though we didn't shoot the ball well, we really defended at a high level and Filipowski made a tough shot there at the end of the first half to take the lead. We came out in the second half, and scored right away, but then Efton got a foul and his foul trouble really hurt our team.

Duke did a great job of adjusting to our ball screen coverages. We were blitzing the sides and he went to naked pick and roll in the second half. We helped big help big which is where four helps five and five is the one blitzing then four helps on the roll. They put Mitchell at the top which was smart. Then they kicked it to him, and the four had to cover him. Andrew got in foul trouble so Damari had to guard

Mitchell and Filipowski were unbelievable. They both played great. During the guts of the game we didn't give up. I think we gave up three offensive rebounds in the second half. Those three offensive rebounds we allowed killed us in the guts of the game when they got a couple of back to back rebounds that we really needed to get. We were getting stops then we couldn't get the ball and kept fouling.

We had four kills in the first half. We didn't have any of the second. I'm really disappointed in how we defended in the second half, we gave up 48 points. They didn't have any transition points in the first half, they had seven in the second, then we fouled. They shot eight free throws in the first and 17 in the second, that's just a terrible recipe to try to win.

It felt like coming into the game those were the three things we needed in order to win here. We had to do well in defensive transition, offensive rebounds and foul shots. We transitioned and we fouled too much. They went 15-of-24 in the second half, I think they were 9-of-13 at the rim. Those are really high percentage shots. I have to give credit to those guys. I don't know if Jon took Filipowski or Mitchell out during the second half. They probably could have played the whole game. They played at an elite level. For us to win an elite-level road game like that you can't give up 48 points in the second half and that's a credit to Duke. McCain was good, Roach was steady. For us on offense, Hunter and Parker were the only two that could really get going. Andrew played well, but he fouled. We just had foul trouble all over the place." - head coach Steve Forbes

Up Next

Wake Forest stays on the road this upcoming weekend, traveling to Virginia for a Saturday tilt (Feb. 17). Tip off is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET and the game will air on ESPN2. The two programs met inside LJVM Coliseum about a month ago (Jan. 13) when Wake Forest captured a 66-47 victory.

Next Event

Team Stats

Hunter Sallis

Andrew Carr

Parker Friedrichsen

Efton Reid III

Players Mentioned

Andrew Carr

Parker Friedrichsen

Cameron Hildreth

Matthew Marsh

Kevin Miller

Damari Monsanto

Efton Reid III

Hunter Sallis

Wake Forest Athletics